(a) Each board referred to in this chapter shall establish
continuing education requirements as a prerequisite to license
renewal. Each board shall develop continuing education criteria
appropriate to its discipline, which shall include, but not be
limited to, course content, course approval, hours required and
reporting periods.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code or the
provision of any rule to the contrary, each person issued a license
to practice medicine and surgery or a license to practice podiatry
or licensed as a physician assistant by the West Virginia Board of
Medicine, each person issued a license to practice dentistry by the
West Virginia Board of Dental Examiners, each person issued a
license to practice optometry by the West Virginia Board of
Optometry, each person licensed as a pharmacist by the West
Virginia Board of Pharmacy, each person licensed to practice
registered professional nursing or licensed as an advanced nurse
practitioner by the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered
Professional Nurses, each person licensed as a licensed practical
nurse by the West Virginia State Board of Examiners for Licensed
Practical Nurses and each person licensed to practice medicine and
surgery as an osteopathic physician and surgeon or licensed or
certified as an osteopathic physician assistant by the West
Virginia Board of Osteopathy shall complete drug diversion training and best practice prescribing of controlled substances training, as
the trainings are established by his or her respective licensing
board, if that person prescribes, administers, or dispenses a
controlled substance, as that term is defined in section one
hundred one, article one, chapter sixty-a of this code.

(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code or the
provision of any rule to the contrary, the West Virginia Board of
Medicine, the West Virginia Board of Dental Examiners, the West
Virginia Board of Optometry, the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy,
the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional
Nurses, the West Virginia State Board of Examiners for Licensed
Practical Nurses and the West Virginia Board of Osteopathy shall
establish continuing education requirements and criteria
appropriate to their respective discipline on the subject of drug
diversion training and best practice prescribing of controlled
substances training for each person issued a license or certificate
by their respective board who prescribes, administers or dispenses
a controlled substance, as that term is defined in section one
hundred one, article one, chapter sixty-a of this code, and shall
develop a certification form pursuant to subdivision (b)(2) of this
section.

(2) Each person who receives his or her initial license or
certificate from any of the boards set forth in subsection (b)
shall complete the continuing education requirements set forth in subsection (b) within one year of receiving his or her initial
license from that board and each person licensed or certified by
any of the boards set forth in subsection (b) who has held his or
her license or certificate for longer than one year shall complete
the continuing education requirements set forth in subsection (b)
as a prerequisite to each license renewal: Provided, That a person
subject to subsection (b) may waive the continuing education
requirements for license renewal set forth in subsection (b) if he
or she completes and submits to his or her licensing board a
certification form developed by his or her licensing board
attesting that he or she has not prescribed, administered, or
dispensed a controlled substance, as that term is defined in
section one hundred one, article one, chapter sixty-a of this code,
during the entire applicable reporting period.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code or the
provision of any rule to the contrary, each person licensed to
practice registered professional nursing or licensed as an advanced
nurse practitioner by the West Virginia Board of Examiners for
Registered Professional Nurses, each person licensed as a licensed
practical nurse by the West Virginia State Board of Examiners for
Licensed Practical Nurses, each person issued a license to practice
midwifery as a nurse-midwife by the West Virginia Board of
Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses, each person issued a
license to practice chiropractic by the West Virginia Board of Chiropractic, each person licensed to practice psychology by the
Board of Examiners of Psychologists, each person licensed to
practice social work by the West Virginia Board of Social Work, and
each person licensed to practice professional counseling by the
West Virginia Board of Examiners in Counseling, shall complete two
hours of continuing education for each reporting period on mental
health conditions common to veterans and family members of
veterans, as the continuing education is established or approved by
his or her respective licensing board. The two hours shall be part
of the total hours of continuing education required by each board
and not two additional hours.

(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code or the
provision of any rule to the contrary, on or before July 1, 2015,
the boards referred to in this subsection shall establish
continuing education requirements and criteria and approve
continuing education coursework appropriate to their respective
discipline on the subject of mental health conditions common to
veterans and family members of veterans, in cooperation with the
Secretary of the Department of Veterans Assistance. The continuing
education shall include training on inquiring about whether the
patients are veterans or family members of veterans, and screening
for conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, risk of
suicide, depression and grief, and prevention of suicide.

(2) On or after July 1, 2017, each person licensed by any of the boards set forth in this subsection shall complete the
continuing education described herein as a prerequisite to his or
her next license renewal.
Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2014 1st Special Session
The WV Code Online is an unofficial copy of the annotated WV Code, provided as a convenience. It has NOT been edited for publication, and is not in any way official or authoritative.